Full day number 1......

...... and the sun is shining! It was REALLY hot yesterday (sorry folks, really not trying to boast!) and looks like today might be similar. Just as well Chris brought the sun creams over in November!

Trouble free flights for the rest of our journey and happily (not to mention amazingly) all our luggage arrived in Auckland! Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Chris' Kindle :-( perhaps it may have enjoyed the security checks too much and decided to stay in the UK. Air NZ staff are on the case so hopefully they may be reunited.

Anyway, we also whizzed through Customs with no problem at all, which was a pleasant surprise. The flight to Christchurch was on time and we ended up sitting next to an ex-pat from Glasgow! We have his number so will probably give him a call soon.

Unfortunately the house next door which was about to be rebuilt when we looked at the house in November is still being built so it is really noisy outside - very like being in Grosvenor Street (although without lorries reversing up the road at all hours, thank goodness). Hopefully they won't work in residential areas at weekends.....

Showers and some food later and we felt a bit more human, though poor Andy is choked with a cold and could hardly speak. Not as much of a relief for Chris as you may think (Oi! - Andy (quietly)) as he kept trying to speak; the man just won't take a hint (Oi again! - Andy). Andy gave in to sleep around 9pm, Chris lasting about another half an hour, so quite a respectable effort.

We are in the process of trying to arrange phone and broadband but it will probably take a few weeks to set up. So regular trips to the library to use their broadband for the time being....

Back to the sunshine :-)

Christchurch here we come!

Pffffffffff, pffffffffftt!

That's the worst of the dust blown off the blog..... Welcome back to any of our previous followers and welcome to any new ones!

Ok, we're not really on tour any more but the blog name can stay for now.  Especially as we are mid-journey at the moment.

Our journey started by being checked in by the grumpiest BA staff member we have ever met. She was scowling to begin with, wanted to charge us for extra bags even though our upgrade carries the baggage allowance over all partner flights and so was even more annoyed when she phoned to check and was told that we were indeed allowed all 6 bags (yes, we really did manage to fill 6 though have no idea how!); then she forgot to put the Heathrow baggage tags on the first few, was even less happy (if possible) when Andy questioned it and snapped at me when I looked worried that she would send them through. Like they would end up on the correct bags, aye right!  So time will tell if they make it through or not.  And she didn't bother asking any security questions or check our hand luggage.  Not only must she have got out of bed on the wrong side but I reckon she must have walked into the wall as a result.....

Anyway, flight on time, really nice Air NZ staff in Heathrow made up for the BA strop-fest in Edi and we then sampled the delights of the business class lounge.  Must win the lottery.......

Chris was asked in Edinburgh to have a random swab done on her kindle. Only took seconds so no bother.  She was then stopped on leaving security in Heathrow to have a random swap on her hand luggage.  Again it was very quick so no bother.  Then her boarding card was flagged for a (can you guess??) random extra security check before boarding!  She checks for signs stuck to her back saying "I'm suspicious, search me" or similar....  Fortunately it was also quick, no rubber gloves involved and her trusty teddy just had a quick swab and no intimate searches either.

A very comfortable and enjoyable flight later and we are currently in the lounge at LAX having made use of their very nice showers and enjoying a beer before the next flight.  Bets are off for the likelihood of Chris being searched in Auckland!

Anyway, flight on time, really nice Air NZ staff in Heathrow made up for the BA strop-fest in Edi and we then sampled the delights of the business class lounge.  Must win the lottery.......

Chris was asked in Edinburgh to have a random swab done on her kindle. Only took seconds so no bother.  She was then stopped on leaving security in Heathrow to have a random swap on her hand luggage.  Again it was very quick so no bother.  Then her boarding card was flagged for a (can you guess??) random extra security check before boarding!  She checks for signs stuck to her back saying "I'm suspicious, search me" or similar....  Fortunately it was also quick, no rubber gloves involved and her trusty teddy just had a quick swab and no intimate searches either.

A very comfortable and enjoyable flight later and we are currently in the lounge at LAX having made use of their very nice showers and enjoying a beer before the next flight.  Bets are off for the likelihood of Chris being searched in Auckland!